ANALOG DEVICES ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF NEXT-GENERATION CHIPSET FOR ADVANCED MULTIMEDIA 3G TD-SCDMA CELLULAR HANDSETS

ANALOG DEVICES ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF NEXT-GENERATION CHIPSET FOR ADVANCED MULTIMEDIA 3G TD-SCDMA CELLULAR HANDSETS

Analog Devices announced availability of its second-generation chipset for developers of advanced multimedia mobile handsets based on the 3G TD-SCDMA Low Chip Rate (LCR) air interface.

SoftFone-LCR+ chipset strengthens the company’s portfolio of 3G TD-SCDMA technology solutions, giving customers a broad range of options—from voice-centric to high-end TD-SCDMA multimedia phones. – SoftFone-LCR+ achieves dual-mode operation completing file transfers on a 384 kbps data connection on a live TD-SCDMA network.

The new SoftFone-LCR+ chipset expands Analog Devices’ portfolio of TD-SCDMA technology solutions and builds upon the company’s legacy as a leader in TD-SCDMA technology development by adding support for a wide range of enhanced multimedia functions.

Analog Devices became the first company to offer a complete TD-SCDMA chipset from a single supplier and the company’s SoftFone chipsets have been an integral part of network trials held by wireless operators in China over the past three years, most recently achieving dual-mode operation and completing file transfers on a 384 kbps data connection with its SoftFone-LCR+ chipset.

About the SoftFone-LCR+ Chipset
The SoftFone-LCR+ chipset supports all the critical functions required to build a TD-SCDMA handset, including the baseband signal processing and control, analog-interface functions and radio. It is based on the popular RAM-based SoftFone architecture also used in Analog Devices’ GSM/GPRS, EDGE and W-CDMA chipsets. ADI’s SoftFone-LCR+ dual-mode chipset consists of five chips, including the AD6903 digital baseband processor that utilizes the company’s Blackfin Processor achieving 260 MHz along with an ARM9 microcontroller, to perform both the communications and audio/video signal processing tasks in a media-rich handset.

The software-based approach of the SoftFone architecture enables terminal developers to maintain maximum software flexibility. Additionally, the SoftFone-LCR+’s AD6857 Stratos-T analog baseband and power management IC provides a full set of audio features, as well as efficient power management. The SoftFone-LCR+ chipset includes interfaces for cameras, color displays, IR, USB and SD/MMC, allowing handset manufacturers to create several designs with varying levels of feature sets for a wide range of phone models.

In addition, the SoftFone-LCR+ chipset includes the Othello-W direct-conversion radio transceiver, offering solid performance and flexibility for either LCR time division duplex (TDD) or W-CDMA frequency division duplex (FDD) terminals. For dual-mode operation, the chipset adds the award-winning Othello-G transceiver, which enables the world’s smallest GSM/GPRS radio.